5 pages, The Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center sponsored a Symposium in August 2002 that focused on the communication of health effects results from community studies involving exposure to hazardous substances in the environment. Some of the audiences identified for presentation of study results were the study subjects, the community, and the general public. Principles and approaches to communicating findings were discussed, as were the challenges that may confront researchers in developing and implementing a communication plan. The Symposium included four sessions. The first was an overview session where Timothy McDaniels (University of British Columbia) described risk communication as a decision-aiding process. In the second session, case studies were presented by Timothy Buckley (Johns Hopkins University), Jane Hoppin (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences), and Anne-Marie Nicol (University of British Columbia). Approaches and strategies used by different stakeholders to communicate study results was the topic for a panel discussion at the third session. Panelists included: James Collins (The Dow Chemical Company), Mary White (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry), Richard Clapp (Boston University), Valerie Zartarian (Environmental Protection Agency), Pamela Williams (Chemrisk), and Tina Bahadori (American Chemistry Council). The final session was a summary presentation on lessons learned given by Rebecca Parkin of George Washington University, in which she synthesized the preceding presentations and formulated guidelines for effective risk communication in community research studies.
13pgs, The Extension Service is one of many agencies charged with increasing awareness and knowledge of research-based agricultural conservation practices. A regional survey of Extension agents with agriculture and natural resources responsibilities was conducted to assess the need for in-service training on 11 water resource conservation topics. The highest priority training needs were for topics related to complex interactions and drivers of agricultural water pollution. This article highlights the implications of these results and offers broader perspective on bringing the Borich model of needs assessment into the agricultural and natural resources realm of subject matter expertise.
